Salvation
by thefanficwriter
Summary: People say life is for the alive. But for Lucy Barker and her husband, death is just the beginning.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Almost every fanfic here is about Benjamin and Mrs. Lovett, or Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney. Well, I think Lucy deserves a little love too...even if she's been glorified enough in the movie version (I like the Lucy in the play better than in the movie, to be honest). Anyway, this basically takes place before Benjamin gets arrested until he kills Lucy. I know the chapters are really short, but I hope you enjoy this fanfic anyway. Oh yeah, by the way, I don't own Sweeney Todd. I'm kind of supposed to say that even though you guys already know it.

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><p><strong>Salvation<strong>

**Chapter One**

He had it coming. He knew he had it coming.

The Judge had been gandering his wife for ages now; he was bound to be the next victim. Years ago he had ridded himself of Alfred Robinson, the storekeeper from Hartford Avenue, in order to get to Janet, his beautiful wife. Poor thing—and she was with child, too! That evil Judge...a heartless creature he was! A shame to all mankind!

With Janet Robinson dead and gone and the Judge's eyes set on his delicate Lucy, Benjamin Barker knew he had it coming. Benjamin Barker, the barber from Fleet Street, was next to be exiled. And being exiled was just as good as being dead—a visitor whom he never once learned to welcome. He knew he was going to have to though, for it will only be a matter of time before the Judge decides to take care of him.

**...To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I don't own Sweeney Todd. Yep...

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><p><strong>Salvation<strong>

**Chapter Two**

"Lucy, my dear..."

"Yes, Benjamin?"

"If I were to be taken away right now—taken away from you—what would you do?"

She was shocked to hear such a thing come from her husband. Her Benjamin was a cheerful soul; he never liked thoughts of sadness. To hear of such a horrible thing coming from him was quite foreign to her.

"Why—why would you ask something like that?"

"Answer the question, my love. Please."

The sincere pleading look in his eyes told her something was wrong. Was there something she needed to know? Was there something he wasn't telling her?

"I'd be miserable, of course! I can't imagine my life without you, Ben. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you!"

At her response, his gaze fell to the floor.

"Is there something wrong, Ben?"

He sighed, his gaze still cast down.

"Ben, please. Don't leave me. I need you," she told him lovingly as she placed a hand on his cheek to make him look at her.

He took her hand gently away from his face, and held it in his own.

"Lucy," he said, "I need you to be strong. Promise me, Lucy. Promise me you'll be strong for Johanna."

"Benjamin, what are you talking about?" By now tears were brimming in her eyes.

"Promise me, Lucy. Please," he persisted.

With a sigh, and without knowing what it was he was hiding from her, she complied with his wishes.

"I promise, Benjamin. I promise," she replied.

"Thank you, my love. Thank you."

**...To be continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **I don't own Sweeney Todd. Yep...

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><p><strong>Salvation<strong>

**Chapter Three**

It was only a matter of time when they finally took him. It was only a matter of time when the Judge finally decided to make his move. It was only a matter of time. He knew he had it coming, and he had prepared himself for this. He just never expected the separation to be so painful. He's going to come back, though. He's going to come back for them.

His dear Lucy was a woman of delicate nature. Her heart was fragile; easily broken. Before he was taken away from them, he made her promise to be strong for their daughter. But knowing her, he could only hope that she did keep that promise. He could only hope.

**...To be continued...**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **I don't own Sweeney Todd. Yep...

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><p><strong>Salvation<strong>

**Chapter Four**

He'd taken her husband away from her. He'd taken away the love of her life. He'd taken away her daughter's father, and violated her. He even had the audacity to come to her residence every morning with flowers in his hands. The nerve! No amount of money or petty plants can ever replace her husband—did he not understand that? The nerve of that man!

It was the fourth time this week. It was the fourth time he'd tried to have his way with her again after that incident at his manor. She had enough. She couldn't take it anymore.

"Lucy, please! Think of your daughter," cried the young red-haired widower who lived downstairs – the landlady.

"Lucy, stop being so foolish!" berated the woman as she snatched away the bottle from her hand, all the while holding Johanna with her other arm.

Who was she to tell her what to do? She was just the landlady, nothing more! She had no right to tell her what to think, or what to do with her life. If she wanted to end it, she will! Besides—_she_ lost _her _husband too. She should know how it feels to lose a loved-one. Instead of scolding her, she should be more sympathetic. The nerve of that woman!

"Give it back to me, Eleanor. Please—I _need_ it!"

"You do not! Stop this behavior now, Lucy," the woman persisted, her voice stern.

Really, the nerve of this daft woman! Does she not understand how much pain she was going through? All she wanted was to end everything. How bad can that be?

"Lucy, please. Johanna needs you," she said with a softer voice this time as she knelt down to her level.

"I can't take it anymore, Eleanor," she replied, burying her face in her hands.

"I know, love. I know. But you have to be strong. Johanna needs you," she reiterated, a hand placed on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"You've lost someone before, haven't you? When Albert died, didn't you feel miserable?"

"Of course I did," she replied, "but I had to move on with my life. Even though we never really loved each other, we still liked each other—as friends, that is. Of course I felt miserable when he left, but life is for the alive, dear. There's no use in dwelling on the past now, is there?"

"You're right," she said with a small smile through her tears.

The young landlady smiled.

"Now dear, I've customers to attend to downstairs. I'll be back in an hour to bring you lunch up here. How does that sound?"

"Thank you."

"It's nothing, dear."

As soon as the baker was out of sight she once again reached for the arsenic. There was no way she would allow someone like _her_ to tell her what to do; she hadn't any right to do so.

"Goodbye, my dear Johanna," she told her little daughter as she planted a kiss on her forehead before placing her in her crib. "Be good to Mrs. Lovett, okay?"

The last thing she heard was the crashing of the bottle against the wooden floor. After that, everything around her seemed to have faded away into darkness.

_I pray that I see you soon, my Benjamin..._

**...To be continued...**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** I don't own Sweeney Todd.

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><p><strong>Salvation<strong>

**Chapter Five**

They were gone. They were gone, and he was never to see them ever again. His Lucy—his yellow-haired angel—was dead, lying ashes in an unmarked grave. "Poisoned 'erself. Arsenic, from th' apothecary 'round th' corner," the baker had told him.

And his Johanna—his dear Johanna—he didn't even get a chance to see her!

That bastard! How absolutely pious, he was, taking him away from his family like that, just to try and get to his Lucy. Now, his Lucy was gone, and he had the audacity to take _his _Johanna? How virtuous, the people of London were indeed.

He will have him, that bastard. His minion too! He will have the _both _of them. He shall avenge his family, and take back his daughter. He, Sweeney Todd, shall have his revenge!

**...to be continued...**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** I don't own Sweeney Todd.

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><p><strong>Salvation<strong>

**Chapter Six**

"Don't I know you," she said...

_Don't I know you..._

All this time...all this time his wife had been alive all along, and that harlot of a baker never told him. Liar!

_I lied because I love you..._

"I love you," she said...

_Love..._

Foolish woman! He could never love anyone other than Lucy. Had she not understood that after all those times he had been indifferent towards her? What a daft woman! How virtuous she was indeed, telling him she only lied to _protect_ him. That she lied because of her _undying love_ for him. And after all she had done, she still desires to _marry _him? The nerve of the damned woman, really! Had she always been _this_ desperate? How much lower can this harlot go?

_She_ deserved to die. Like those other men that he had killed, she _deserved_ to _die_! It was because of _her _that his Lucy was dead. It was _her_ fault.

_It was her fault_...

"Lucy...my dear Lucy...what have I done?"

As his vision slowly faded into darkness he could think of nothing but relief, now that he was finally reuniting with his beloved yellow-haired angel.

**...To be continued...**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** I don't own Sweeney Todd.

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><p><strong>Salvation<strong>

**Chapter Seven**

"Benjamin...Benjamin, my love..."

He could hear the voice of his beloved from a distance. From which direction it came from exactly, he was unsure. What was surrounding him was nothing but pure white space. It was as though he was stuck in white room without corners or walls—nothing; just a white space.

"Benjamin, my love..."

The voice was growing louder now. He tried running towards it but it seemed to be leading him nowhere, until finally—

"Lucy!"

He was overjoyed to finally see his yellow-haired angel standing in front of him. As soon as he saw her he pulled her into a tight embrace. He wanted to stay like this forever. He wanted her close to him, to never leave her side ever again.

"You've come back, my love," she said lovingly as she placed a hand on his cheek.

She looked the same as he she had when he left; still youthful and beautiful, as she always had been.

"Indeed, I have," he replied, "and I shall never leave you again."

Lucy's smile faded as she studied his features. When she touched his wild tresses she could no longer hide the concern she was feeling towards her beloved husband.

"What have they done to you?"

He sighed.

"Let's not discuss that now, shall we? I don't want to talk about it just yet," he explained.

His yellow-haired angel nodded.

"Of course," she said. "Let's go now," she told him jovially as she took his hand, "I know you're going to love it here. It's a beautiful place."

He smiled as he followed his wife's lead.

At last, Lucy was with him again, and never were they to be separated by any baker, Judge, or Beadle. At last, he was _free_. At last, he has found _salvation_.

**- THE END -**


	8. Alternate Ending

**A/N:** A happy ending is nice, but I just couldn't resist writing an angsty one! I don't own Sweeney Todd, by the way.

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><p><strong>Salvation<strong>

**Alternate Ending**

"Benjamin...Benjamin, what have you done?"

He could hear the voice of his Lucy at a distance. In this space of radiant light, he knew not where it was coming from; all he knew was that the voice had sounded upset—dismayed.

"Benjamin...Benjamin, my love, what have you become?" she sobbed once again.

He kept running, but it was leading him nowhere. He was still stuck in this vast space of white light. Somewhere he knew Lucy was there, yet he knew not exactly where she was.

"Lucy!" he cried, hoping she would appear anytime soon, and indeed she did much to his comfort. "Lucy!" he repeated once more. Her eyes were not filled with joy when she saw him. Tears were falling from her eye as she looked at him, and it pained him to see her this way.

"Lucy..."

"You aren't my Benjamin," she said to him, her eyes filled with an expression he hadn't seen before—resentment, contempt.

"Lucy, what are you talking about? It's me, Benjamin!"

He couldn't help but feel offended when she shook his hand away when he attempted to touch her. This Lucy was not the Lucy he knew before—Lucy never got angry. _Never_.

"You are _not _my Benjamin. Benjamin does _not _kill!" she declared resentfully.

"Lucy..."

"You're a _monster_, Sweeney Todd! You're a _monster_!"

"Lucy..."

"You aren't my Benjamin."

Slowly the white ground below him started cracking, falling to pieces, and he started to fall. His surroundings no longer consisted of the white light like it had before. Instead, it was fading to black. As he looked up, he saw Lucy in tears, watching him fall to the eternally-burning flame below him.

Lucy was gone. Gone for good. And Johanna—he was never to see her again. No more Lucy. No more Johanna. Nothing. He had nothing.

He thought he could free himself from the horrors he suffered by killing unsuspecting men; by killing the Judge and the Beadle; by eliminating that harlot of a baker, Mrs. Lovett. He thought he could find salvation through vengeance. For the sake of his family, he killed all those souls.  
>but now—now they were gone. Gone—never to come back again!<p>

So _this_ is how hell felt like...


End file.
